Jesus was the redeemer

JESUS WAS THE REDEEMER
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;
being justifiedfreely by his grace through the
redemption that is in ChristJesus.—Romans3:23-24.
GreatTexts of the Bible
Justification
For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by
his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.—Romans3:23-24.
1. What is the position of a sinning moral being under the government of
God? It is that of guilt, which means that he both deserves and is liable to
punishment. It is also that of depravity, or the polluting influence of his sin
upon his own soul. The way of relief from the first of these difficulties is
through the atonementof Christ. The method of relief from the secondis
through the regenerating and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.
2. The object of the text is to explain the method of gaining relief from that
element of guilt which involves liability to punishment. The question is, how
shall the iron link betweensin and penalty be broken and the transgressorbe
allowedto escape?But this is not all. Not only is it necessarythat the
connectionbetweensin and penalty should be broken; but also that the
connectionbetweenobedience and reward should be re-established. A real

salvationinvolves not only release from penalty, but a title to life. Unless this
title to life canbe achieved, consciencecannotbe quieted, nor can any reliable
hope of future well-being be kindled in the heart. To accomplishboth these
ends, the sinner must be justified in the full sense ofthat term; and the most
important inquiry which can be raisedby the mind of man is, “How canman
be just with God?”
3. Manifestlyman cannot justify himself. He cannot satisfy the penalty and yet
live. He can satisfyit by enduring it; but that is a supposition which implies
his ruin, and his salvation on that contingencyis self-contradictoryand
impossible; he cannot be saved and at the same time lost. He cannot fulfil the
law; for his sin has so corrupted his moral nature that all the acts which flow
from it are tainted, and he is unable to render that perfectobedience which
the law demands, and which alone cancarry its rewards. How, then, shall a
transgressorofthe law be justified?
4. The Gospelgives the answerto the question in the words of the text, “Being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
Since man cannot effecthis own justification, if accomplishedat all it must be
done for him by some one else. The Gospelanswers the greatquestion by the
doctrine of a substitute for the hopeless transgressor, undertaking to do for
him what it was impossible for him to do for himself; and the development of
that wonderful conceptionconstitutes the essence andthe chief distinction of
the Christian religion. The development of the grand thought of a substitute
for the sinner embraces allthe distinctive doctrines of Christianity:
justification by faith, atonement, redemption, imputation, the divinity of the
Redeemer, the infinitude of the Divine grace, andthe absolute effectivenessof
the work done for the deliverance of the transgressorsofthe Divine law.
The subject is Justification. The text contains—

I. The Need of Justification—“Forallhave sinned, and fall short of the glory
of God.”
i. Sin.
ii. All have sinned.
iii. Short of the Glory of God.
II. The Manner of Justification—“Being justified freely by his grace.”
i. Justification.
ii. Of God’s Free Grace.
III. The Means of Justification—“Throughthe redemption that is in Christ
Jesus.”
i. Redemption.
ii. The Redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
I

The Needof Justification
“All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.”
i. Sin
1. We are constantly being haunted by something we have done or have not
done, because we have done it or have not done it. And this is not a
characteristic ofone man or another, but of all men. There are vast
differences betweenmen, ranging from the heights of sainthoodto the depths
of depravity, but there is this feature common to all—a sense that there is a
gap betweenwhat they are and what they ought to be. There are men who are
“given overto lasciviousness,to work all uncleanness with greediness”; and
there are men so goodthat they make others feel as though they belongedto a
better World; but if you could look into their hearts and listen to their
confession, youwould find that the best as well as the worstare conscious of
this gap, this dislocation, this contrastbetween“ought” and “is.” There is
none that doeth good, no, not one; we have all “gone out of the way,” i.e. the
way of perfect, ideal goodness.
2. There are two ways of explaining this strange but universal fact in human
life; and there is a third way which more or less combines the two.
(1) The first way is that which till recently was universal among Christian
thinkers—that man is a being who was creatednot only innocent, but in a
sense perfect, and that he has dropped into a lowercondition which is untrue
to his real nature, and which shows itselfby this feeling of remorse or sorrow
for what he is. Man, in other words, is a fallen creature.

(2) The secondway of accounting for the fact of sin is quite a recentone, but it
is held by probably the majority of thinking people now. That theory tells us
that man is not a fallen being, who beganhis careerin a better or perfect
state, but one who has climbed up from a lowerstage by a process of
evolution. In this respect, he is not different from other creatures, who have
all climbed up from some lowerform of life to their present position. But he is
different from all other creatures in this, that in virtue of a God-given gift, he
is not the mere creature of heredity and circumstances,but has a certain
powerto assistorretard his own further development in every sense. He is a
creature not made, but in the making; and he has been takeninto partnership
by his Creator, so that he can help God(or hinder Him) in the work of
perfecting his own nature. In other words, there is a lowernature in him
derived from his animal origin, strong and vital and full of passionate desires.
There is a higher nature in him, which is weak and frail and undeveloped, but
of infinite worth. There is thus a conflict ever going on within him betweenthe
lowernature and the higher, and because he is within limits free to choose
betweenthis and that, he is able to help on or to hinder his higher true self
from gaining the victory over his lower.
(3) Now man is certainly a creature in process ofdevelopment. He is
advancing in a hundred directions; and the impulse to advance is so powerful
that, though it acts fitfully and is often checkedandthrown back, it never
really ceasesto act; so that when humanity goes back in one direction it tends
to recoveritself, and to realize in one way what it fails to realize in another.
None the less certainis it that there is something more the matter with human
nature as it is than a feeling of not having progressedfastenough. The human
consciencetestifies to a feeling of some moral disasteror calamity that has
fallen upon it. It is haunted by a strongerfeeling than that of failure to attain.
Some poison has mingled with the very blood of the soul, so to speak. We
come into the world weightednot only with our animal nature, but with a
paralysis or sicknessin our higher nature itself. We cannot callour animal
desires wrong;they are healthy and good in themselves;they conduce to the

continuance and vigour of our being; we cannot dispense with them. The
mischief does not seemto be there, but higher up, in the will itself. Now no
mere evolutionary theory can accountfor this fact of our nature; and it is this
which the old theory of the Fall attempts to accountfor, and which, when
broadly conceived, it does accountfor. At some distant period of our history
as a race—perhaps atthe very beginning—a wrong turn was taken, and its
consequences, passedonthrough the mysterious law of heredity, continue to
this day. Man is a rising creature, with a principle of betterment deeply
implanted within his nature which has never been quite uprooted; but he is
also a fallen creature, whose nature has been thrown out of gearthrough the
effects of habitual sin, which has largely paralysedthe powerto rise. And so
man is a distracted, struggling, tormented creature, draggedin different ways,
unable on the one side to sink contentedly into evil, and to forget God and
goodness in that evil, and yet on the other unable to shake off the incubus and
burden of this sinful nature, which clings to him in spite of all his endeavours
to free himself from it, and makes him cry out, “Who shall deliver me from
this body of death?”
Any theory or teaching which in any way blurs the meaning of sin as an awful
and devastating mischief, for which there canbe no excuse, seems to me to cut
at the very root and nerve-centre of the spiritual life. Sin is the one (and
perhaps the only) thing in the universe which it is impossible to justify; it is by
definition the thing that ought not to be. Once we begin to whittle awayits
meaning, and make it a stage in progress, a fall upward, a necessaryor
inevitable episode in the experience of an evolving creature, we empty it of its
distinctive meaning, and strike at the very heart of every genuine moral effort.
I can see that physical evil—i.e. suffering and calamity and limitation and
loss—has many helpful functions to fulfil; but moral evil—sin—is the one
thing that has no function to fulfil; it is a purely destructive, disintegrating
force, an essentialblight, a backward, downward, stumble of the soul; it ought
not to be, or ever to have come into being, at any time in the life of any
creature of God’s making.1 [Note:E. Griffith-Jones.]

The fact that the only perfect being, the only typical man whom the world has
ever seen, was made perfect through suffering, yet without sin, shows how
essentiallydifferent the problems of suffering and sin are, inextricably as they
are interwovenin human experience. Suffering is one of the needful
conditions of our physical life, preserving us from danger, stimulating us into
a largerlife in virtue of our efforts to overcome it, and sweetening our proud
and self-indulgent nature by its discipline. But sin is the mortal enemy of our
highest, our spiritual life; and as such alone are we justified in dealing with it.
That is the Christian view from the beginning; and it is the only view that can
safeguardthe soul in its perilous journey through this world.1 [Note: E.
Griffith-Jones.]
ii. All have sinned
1. From the first man that breathed in Eden to the lastman that will look on
the sun, we are one family, under the rule and protection of one Providence,
borne down by the same burden und looking for the same “better land.” We
are a living and unbroken unity—past, present, and to be. We are all
conscious ofthe same bias to wrong-doing. We are all sinners. “There is none
righteous, no, not one; there is none that understandeth, there is none that
seekethafterGod. They are all gone out of the way, they are togetherbecome
unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” It is not simply that
our nature bears an inherited taint and fault, called“originalsin”; but we
have yielded ourselves to voluntary sinfulness. Our last condemnationcomes
not from our inheritance of originalinfirmity, but from that “personalestate”
of sins we have wilfully committed. It is the presence ofthe individual will in
sin that renders it an objectof punishment. “All have sinned.”
The Apostle does not assertthat there are not degrees ofwickednessand
lowerdepths of guilt; he only declares, withuncompromising assurance,that
all have come short of the standard. It is one thing for human nature to

possesssome beautiful remainders of good; it is another question whether
human nature, even at its best, has enoughgood to save and restore itself. A
famous temple of Rome, or of Greece, orof India, lying in ruins, may have
fragments of splendid sculpture buried among the rubbish; but the splendid
fragments cannotbuild once more the splendid temple. A young woman on
her death-bed may have a face as lovely as a poet’s fancy, with
The gleam
Of far-off summers in her tresses bright.
She is dying, nevertheless!The sinful heart may have tender passions and
noble impulses; but they are only soiledfragments—beautiful things hiding
the horror of death.2 [Note:H. E. Lewis.]
2. But how does St. Paul prove it? You will see the answerin the first two
chapters of the Epistle to the Romans. He proves it, not speculatively, but
historically; not by logic, but by experience;not by development of a theory,
but by an appeal to fact. Mankind in his days was divided into two great
sections—Jewsand Gentiles—withno consciousnessas yet that the middle
wall of partition which separatedthem from eachother had been finally
broken down. Eachsectionhated, eachdespised, the other. The Jew despised
the Gentile as a shameful reprobate; the Gentile hated the Jew as a grovelling
impostor. But neither realized his true condition; neither was at all awake to
the factthat he had sinned.
(1) Certainly the Gentiles were not. Paul begins with them. They were, as a
class, deadto all sense of sin; they were in that meridian of evil which St. Paul
calls “pastfeeling.” A stage there may have been in the national as in the

individual life, in which they felt their guiltiness; early in their career, before
the love of innocence was dead, before the tenderness of conscience was
seared;and later, too, the stage came to them, as it comes to all, when “the
Furies took their seats upon the midnight pillow.” But from the soul of their
youth the sense ofwounded innocence was too often sweptawaylike the dew
from the greengrass;and from the sociallife it vanished in universal
corruption. The life of Greece, forwhich some writers sigh as having been so
infinite in fascination, was bright, no doubt, in its first gaiety, in its ideal
freshness. But when youth was gone;when strength failed; when health was
shattered; when on the dead flowers of life age shed its snows;when Death
came nearer and nearer with the dull monotony of his echoing footfall, and
they saw no life beyond—life in Hellas was not gay then. Take her at her most
brilliant period, when her most immortal temples were built, her most
immortal songs written, her most immortal statues carved, and we see the
seamyside and raggededges ofthe life of Greece revealedin the sensual
wickednessofAristophanes; we see its fierce, untamed, soul-rending passions
recordedin the stern pages of Thucydides. Her own poets, her ownsatirists,
her own historians will teachus that to have been naked and not ashamedwas
to have been expelled from Paradise;to be past feeling for sin was to be
removed utterly from even the possibility of blessedness.And as for the
Romans—
On that hard Paganworld disgust
And secretloathing fell;
Deepweariness andsated lust
Made human life a hell.

(2) Nor was the Jew. So far from feeling himself sinful, he lookedon himself
alone as being the just, the upright, the chosen. He spoke with contemptuous
disgust of the Gentiles as sinners and dogs and swine. Of course, in a vague
generalway, he assentedto vague generalconfessions, as whenthe High Priest
laid his hands on the head of the scapegoat, andsaid, “O God, the God of
Israel, pardon our iniquities, our transgressions, andour sins.” But, on the
whole, in the Pharisaic epoch, which beganeven in the days of Ezra, the Jews
were infinitely satisfiedwith themselves. They held (as the Talmud often
shows us) that no Jew could possibly be rejected;that God lookedon him with
absolute favouritism; that the meanestsonof Israelwas a prince of the kings
of the earth. The pride which causedthis serene unconsciousness oftheir own
guilt—the factthat they so little recognizedthe plague of their own hearts,
was the worst thing about them. They knew not that they were miserable,
poor, blind, and naked. It was the self-induced callosityof formalism. It was
the penal blindness of moral self-conceit. “Are we blind also?” askedthe
astonishedPhariseesofChrist. And He said unto them, “If ye were blind ye
would have no sin; but now you say, We see, therefore your sin remaineth.”
The fact, then, that Jew and Gentile alike were ignorant of their own guilty
condition was the deadliestelement of their danger. For
When we in our viciousness grow hard—
O misery on’t!—the wise gods seelour eyes;
In our own filth drop our clearjudgments; make us
Adore our errors; laugh at’s while we strut
To our confusion.

It seems to me that people getinto the way of identifying sin with one kind of
sin—the sin of the outcasts—andforgetthe sins of character, ofthe Pharisees,
and of the wicked, wise conspiratorsagainsthuman goodand happiness, who
are eminently the Bible type of the sinners who have everything to fear.1
[Note:Life and Letters of DeanChurch, 265.]
A soul made weak by its pathetic want
Of just the first apprenticeship to sin
Which thenceforth makes the sinning soul secure
From all foes save itself, souls’truliest foe,—
Since egg turned snake needs fear no serpentry.2 [Note:R. Browning, The
Ring and the Book.]
3. The Apostle proves that all have sinned by pointing to the facts around him.
The facts of experience prove it still. Take the irreligious world—the vast
masses who do not even profess religion, who never setfoot in a place of
worship. Take the vast army of unhappy drunkards, reeling through a
miserable life to a dishonoured grave. Take the countless victims of sins of
impurity. Take trade and commerce, with its adulterations, its dishonesties, its
recklessgreed, its internecine struggles betweencapitaland toil. Are these
mere words, or are they indisputable facts? Is there no gambling? Are there
no wild, greedy, dishonest speculations? Is the common conversationof men
what it should be? Is the drink trade and its consequences anhonour to us?

Does Godlook with approval on the opium traffic? Are the amusements of the
nation satisfactory? Canwe regard with complacencythe accessories ofthe
turf? Are the streets of London—reeking as they do with open and shameless
temptation—what the streets of a Christian capitalshould be? Would a Paul
or an Elijah have had no burning words of scathing denunciation at what the
stage and the opera sometimes offerto the rich, and the music-hall and the
dancing-room to the poor? How many of the rich understand what it is to be
generous? How many of the poor are alive to the duty and dignity of self-
respect? Are there no base and godless newspapers? Didnot a great
statesmanwrite but recently about “one of the thousands of lies, invented by
knaves and believed by fools”? Is the generaltone of what is called society
healthy—with its gossip, and its fashion, and its luxury, and its selfish
acquiescence in the seething misery around?
It may seemsomewhatextreme, which I will speak;therefore let every man
judge of it, even as his own heart shall tell him, and no otherwise;I will but
only make a demand: If Godshould yield to us, not as unto Abraham, if fifty,
forty, thirty, twenty, yea, or if ten goodpersons could be found in a city, for
their sakes thatcity should not be destroyed; but, if God should make us an
offer thus large, Searchall the generations of men since the fall of your father
Adam, find one man that hath done any one action, which hath past from him
pure, without any stain or blemish at all; and for that one man’s one only
action, neither man nor angel shall feelthe torments which are prepared for
both: do you think that this ransom, to deliver men and angels, would be
found among the sons of men?1 [Note: Hooker, Works, iii. 493.]
I shall be reminded what a tragedy of misconceptionand misconduct man at
large presents:of organizedinjustice, cowardlyviolence, and treacherous
crime; and of the damning imperfections of the best. They cannot be too
darkly drawn. Man is indeed markedfor failure in his efforts to do right. But
where the best consistentlymiscarry, how tenfold more remarkable that all
should continue to strive; and surely we should find it both touching and

inspiriting, that in a field from which successis banished, our race should not
ceaseto labour.2 [Note:R. L. Stevenson, Pulvis et Umbra.]
4. The sense of sin, which in previous generations was so acute and full of
torment, seems to have recently lost a gooddeal of its edge and insistence.
Men are not troubled as they used to be with a sense ofthe awful reality and
devastating nature of the evil in their hearts. And there are teachers who
defend this attitude. Sir Oliver Lodge, for instance, has said, in one of his
many recent excursions into the realm of theology, that the man in the street
does not trouble himself much about his sins nowadays;and he seems to
justify this change of front. Another leading thinker has even more boldly said
in effectthat sin is only a mistakenand misleading search—asit were, in the
wrong direction—forthe largerlife, i.e. for God; or in other words, that it is
only an attempt to realize one’s possibilities on the wrong plane of effort and
experience. This has shockedmany people because ofthe blunt and vivid way
it was put, and well it may. None the less it expresses the unspokenidea of a
greatmany thinkers. The old Puritan attitude of fearand shame and sorrow
at the thought of evil, the convictionthat it is an offence in the sight of God, at
which He is infinitely pained in His heart, and which rouses His loving but
awful indignation—this has given way to the notion that sin, after all, is only
an incident of development, that it is one of the necessaryconditions of ethical
progress, and that, this being so, God cannot be angry with us if we go wrong
on our way towards getting into the right road. This attitude is combined with
a theory that, since God is omnipotent, He will see to it that in the end every
sinner is somehow orother brought back to Himself. Men who sin may be
going out of their way to find Him, but find Him they will in the end and at
last. Otherwise God can never be all in all.
As a matter of fact, the higher man of to-day is not worrying about his sins at
all; … his mission, if he is goodfor anything, “is to be up and doing.”1 [Note:
Sir Oliver Lodge, in Hibbert Journal, April 1904, 466.]

Said a woman to me last week:“I cannotfeel that my heart is desperately
wicked;have I to?”2 [Note:T. R. Williams.]
I knew a man once who lived a scandalouslyimmoral life, and when he tired
of it committed suicide quite deliberately. He left behind him—for he was a
man of letters—a copy of verses addressedto his Fatherin heaven, in which
he told Him that he was coming home to dwell with Him for ever. That was an
extreme instance perhaps; but extreme only because this man, being well-
educatedand accustomedto express his thoughts in verse, was moved to put
on record his absolute lack of any sense of sin.3 [Note: R. Winterbotham.]
5. A misconceptionas to the realnature of sin, and what it consists in, is one
reasonwhy many have little or no consciousnessofit; why they are not
quickened to repentance and confession;why we hear so often such
statements as these, “I am no worse than others,” “I have never committed
any crime,” “I do not feel that I am a miserable sinner”; or the proud
thanksgiving of the Pharisee, “God, I thank thee I am not as other men are.”
In all such casesGod’s standard of requirement is fatally misunderstood; the
length and breadth of His law are not discerned; the love and purpose of His
heart are most inadequately conceived. Once let the light of heavenshine out
in all its native brightness, and the darkness of earth will be revealedin
striking contrast. He who has felt the love of God, and has recognizedHim as
a Father, must have felt also the baseness andguilt of sin—must, ere long,
have said, like the Prodigal, “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto
him, Father, I have sinned againstheaven and in thy sight, and am no more
worthy to be called thy son.”
I have never yet met the man who disputed the factof his being a sinner; but I
have met with many who admitted it, and yet lived on in the world as gaily as
if it entailed no further consequences. WhenI proceedto inquire how this can
possibly be, it always strikes me, as the chief reason, that men do not give

themselves leisure—to reflect. All around me appearto labour under an
indescribable distractionof mind. I cannot otherwise accountfor the decided
manner in which they admit many propositions, and yet do not draw from
them the conclusions that are obviously manifest. Since the hour in which I
first clearlyapprehended the one truth that I am a sinner—againstGod, I
likewise perceived, as clearly, that there is no business in life so important as
to recoverHis favour, and become His obedient child. Before that discovery, it
always seemedto me as if my life had no proper aim. It was then, for the first
time, that I became aware for what purpose I was living. No doubt I had a
certain object, even before, but it was one of which I felt ashamed, and
therefore did not acknowledgeevento myself. It was, in truth, to enjoy the
things of this world, and to be honoured in the eyes of men. And to thousands
at my side, although they too are ashamedto confess it, this is the sole wreath
for which they strive. If, however, they would take time to reflect, the mere
perceptions of the understanding would show them the folly of their conduct.
For, supposing our joys and hopes to have their centre in this world, what a
painful thought that we are every day withdrawing further awayfrom it!
whereas, if eternity be our end and aim, how pleasing to think that to it we are
every day advancing nearer!1 [Note:A. Tholuck.]
iii. St. Paul’s Definition of Sin
“All have sinned,” says St. Paul, “and fall short of the glory of God.” That
seems to be his conceptionof sin. That is sin in its essence. And that includes
all under sin, leaving no room whatever for exculpation or escape. Forwhatis
it to fall short of the glory of God?
1. The word “glory” (doxa) is used in the New Testamentwith two distinct
meanings. It means (1) reputation, or (2) brightness, especiallythe brightness
or splendour which radiates from the presence ofGod. The secondmust be
the meaning here. It is the majesty or goodness ofGod as manifested to men.

The Rabbis held that Adam by the Falllost six things, “the glory, life
(immortality), his stature (which was above that of his descendants), the fruit
of the field, the fruits of trees, and the light (by which the world was created,
and which was withdrawn from it and reservedfor the righteous in the world
to come).” It is explained that “the glory” was a reflection from the Divine
glory which before the Fallbrightened Adam’s face (Weber, Altsyn. Theol., p.
214). ClearlySt. Paul conceives ofthis glory as in process ofbeing recovered:
the physical sense is also enriched by its extensionto attributes that are moral
and spiritual.1 [Note:Sanday and Headlam, Romans, 85.]
2. What is to “fall short” of this glory?
(1) The metaphor is takenfrom the racecourse. To “comeshort” is to be left
behind in the race, not to reachthe goal. And the goalis “the glory of God.”
We may take “the glory of God,” then, in the first place, in the widestsense.
To attain to “the glory of God” is (a) to enjoy His favour, (b) to be formed in
His image, (c) to live in His presence. These three togethercoverall that the
soul of man can desire. They are the sum total of happiness. There is nothing
beyond. Adam had them all in Eden before his fall. He was made in the image
of God, and he enjoyed the favour and the presence of God. Sin robbed him of
them all. And as sinners we by nature come short of them all. “The carnal
mind is enmity againstGod: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither
indeed canbe. So then they that are in the flesh cannotplease God” (Romans
8:7-8). Surely this is the opposite of God’s favour! Then, “They that are after
the flesh do mind the things of the flesh” (Romans 8:5). Remember what the
“works ofthe flesh” are, as St. Paul gives them in Galatians 5:19-21. Surely
this is the opposite of the image of God! And then, “Without God in the
world” (Ephesians 2:12). Surely this is the opposite of God’s presence!

(2) But, in the secondplace, we may take this definition of sin to mean that
men have not lived for the glory of God. This goes deeperthan acts;it reaches
the motive of human action. We, who can read only what speaks to the
outward senses, verynaturally think most of words and actions, because they
are all of which we can be certainly cognizant. And, as naturally, that great
Spirit who reads thoughts as easilyas He reads words, will look equally, nay,
more than equally, at the inward principles, at the springs more than at the
acts of the machine of life—at the sources more than at the streams of every
man’s moral being. Forhere lies the difference—we generallythink feelings
important because theylead to conduct; God lays stress upon conduct because
it indicates feelings. So it will be at the last greataccount. All the deeds and
sayings of a man will then stand forth in the light—eachone in its clearness.
But to what purpose? That the man may be judged of those things? Certainly
not. But they are witnesses, calledup to give evidence before men and angels,
to a certain inward invisible state of the man, by which, and according to
which, every one will receive his sentence and his eternal award. The real
subject-matter of inquiry in that day will not be actions, nor words, but
motives.
(3) And, in the third place, the expression, “Fallshort of the glory of God,”
may mean—and probably in the Apostle’s mind did mean—failure to reach
the moral glory of God, the inexorable perfectness ofHis character, with
which we must correspondin order to be at peace with Him.
Let us understand well the greatness ofthe Divine requirement from man, for
it is the measure of the Divine love. The love of Godcan be satisfied with
nothing less than its own perfection. It is to this that He seeksto bring us.
Anything less than this, any coming short of His glory, is, in His sight, sin; a
missing of our true human aim; a failure to reachthe stature of the perfect
man—to be complete in Christ Jesus, to be washedin His blood, to be clothed
with His righteousness,to be filled with His spirit.1 [Note: J. N. Bennie.]

The perfectrevelation of that glory is in Jesus Christ, who is “the brightness
of the Father’s glory, and the express image of His person.” In Him, the image
of God, men were originally created;in Him they live and move and have
their being. That same Divine Word and Son is the life and light of men, “the
light that lighteth every man that comethinto the world.” So in this waywe
reacha true harmony betweenthe declarationof St. Paul in the text, that a
coming short of the glory of God is the universal human sin, and the witness
of the Holy Spirit, who, as expresslyforetold by our blessedLord, eversince
His descenton the Day of Pentecost, has beenconvincing the world of sin,
because men believe not in Christ.1 [Note:J. N. Bennie.]
3. Notice, then, that in this statement that “allhave sinned,” St. Paul is not
charging every man with the commissionof crime, or of open acts of
wickednesssuchas the world condemns and the laws of men punish. But he
declares that all, without exception, have missedthe true aim of their being;
have fallen short of the mark which they ought to have hit; have failed wilfully
in attaining the end of their life. They have not entered into and fulfilled the
purpose of God; they have not answeredHis gracious call;they have not gone
forth to meet Him, or yielded themselves to the patient drawing of His love.
It is a commonplace feeling, if not an actual belief, that if men have not done
any greatharm they cannot be exposedto any greatcondemnation. But what
is greatharm? Is it not missing the very object you were made for? A rifle is
made to shoot straight; if it will not do so, howeverperfectthe polish of its
barrel, or the finish of its lock or stock, it is useless, andyou throw it on one
side or break it up. The more complete it seems to your eye in all its
workmanship, the more vexed you are with it for its utter failure in the one
work for which you had it made.2 [Note:F. Morse.]
“Lift up your hearts.” “We lift them up.” Ah me!

I cannot, Lord, lift up my heart to Thee;
Stoop, lift it up, that where Thou art I too may be.
“Give Me thy heart.” I would not sayThee nay,
But have no power to keepor give away
My heart: stoop, Lord, and take it to Thyself to-day.
Stoop, Lord, as once before, now once anew;
Stoop, Lord, and hearken, hearken, Lord, and do,
And take my will, and take my heart, and take me too.3 [Note:Christina G.
Rossetti.]
II
The Manner of our Justification
“Being justified freely by His grace.”

The statementbrings us face to face with that word, Justification, which
played so greata part in Reformationhistory, and which undoubtedly had so
rich a content to minds like St. Paul’s, but which has tended more and more to
disappear out of our religious vocabulary. As for the word, that is a small
affair; but it would argue a serious loss in spiritual sensitivenessif we could
endure to exist as children of God on any other terms than those implied in
the old phrase—justification.
i. Justification
1. Paul’s doctrine of justification may be summed up in three propositions:(1)
God reckons, orpronounces, or treats as righteous the ungodly who has no
righteousness ofhis own to show (Romans 4:5). (2) It is his faith that is
reckonedfor righteousness;faith in Christ is acceptedinsteadof personal
merit gained by goodworks (Romans 4:5). (3) This faith has Christ as its
object(Romans 3:22), especiallythe propitiation which is in His blood
(Romans 3:25); but as such it results in a union with Christ so close that
Christ’s experience of separationfrom sin and surrender to God is
reproduced in the believer (Romans 6:1-11).
2. The use of the term “justification” in perpetual contrastwith the term
“condemnation,” settles the question that justification is a forensic or judicial
term, carrying the notion which is in direct contrastwith the notion of
condemnation. “They shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked”
(Deuteronomy 25:1). “He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth
the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 17:15). “It is
God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth?” (Romans 8:33). The last is
St. Paul, who also declares that “the judgment was by one to condemnation,
but the free gift is of many offences unto justification” (Romans 5:16). These
terms are so clearly opposedthat the meaning of the one may be determined
by the other. Condemnation is a legalterm expressive of a certainrelation to

law; it confers no personalor subjective depraving influence on the character
of the condemned person. It simply declares that the law, or contract, has
been violated, and formally decrees the subjection of the law-breakerto the
penalties of the law, but exerts no corrupting influence on his personal
character. Justification, then, canonly do the same thing in the opposite
direction; it determines a legalstanding without exerting a personal subjective
influence on the characterof the justified person, making him personally holy.
This personalimprovement which will inevitably follow justification as one of
its effects is due to sanctification;but it is not a part of justification itself. It is
not allowable to confound cause and effect.
3. The doctrine has been denounced as legalistic and even immoral. What has
to be carefully remembered is that Paul is not responsible for what a
theologicalscholasticismor a popular evangelicalismmay have made of his
doctrine. God does not impute righteousness to the unrighteous, but He
accepts insteadof righteousness,insteadof a perfect fulfilment of the whole
law, faith. “Faith is reckonedfor righteousness.”In forgiving, God’s intention
is not to allow a man to feel comfortable and happy while indifferent to, and
indolent in, goodness;but to give a man a fresh opportunity, a new ability to
become holy and godly. Those whom God reckons righteous, He means also to
make righteous; and the gradual process ofsanctificationcanonly begin with
the initial actof justification. A man must be relieved of the burden of his
guilt, he must be recalledfrom the estrangementof his sin, he must be allowed
to escape from the haunting shadows ofhis doom, before he can with any
confidence, courage,orconstancy tread the upward path of goodnessto God.
The man who accepts God’s forgivenessin faith cannot mean to abuse it by
continuance in sin, but must long for and welcome it as allowing him to make
a fresh start on the new path of trustful, loyal, and devoted surrender to God.
Paul, it is quite certain, knew of no saving faith that could claim justification
but disownsanctification. To him faith was not only assentto what Christ had
by His sacrifice done for man’s salvation, but consent, constantand complete,
to all that Christ by His Spirit might do in transforming character. He knew
of no purpose of grace that stopped short at reckoning men righteous, and did
not go on to making them righteous.1 [Note:A. E. Garvie.]

Your little child does the wrong thing or says the false thing. Then comes
sorrow, let us hope, and the resolve to do better, and the old question, “Am I
goodnow?” And you, sitting there half glad, half fearful, know that the fault
is not conqueredyet, that the consequence ofthat slip, that fall, remains, a
scarif not a wound; but you recognize, too, that the aspiration is genuinely for
the right, the face settowards victory. It is not righteousness achieved, but you
count the faith, the attitude of soul, for righteousness. Yousay, “Yes, you are
goodnow.” The declarationis of goodness unrealizedas yet; but, nevertheless,
actualto the heart of grace, in hope and resolve. And with the declarationthe
shadow vanishes, and that confidence is restoredin which lies, perhaps, the
child’s chief hope of achieving the goodness.1 [Note:C. S. Horne.]
When Robert Browning sings—
’Tis not what man Does which exalts him, but what man Would do,
it may have a perilous sound. But by and by we discoverthat it is a
profoundly true interpretation of life. It is the will outreaching towards a
perfection unattained, and, perhaps, even unattainable here. It is the
exaltation of the inward life; the motion of the soul towards the highest that it
knows and sees. This faith counts as righteousness inthe sight of God.
All I could never be,
All, men ignored in me,
This, I was worth to God.

He counted what we would fain be, but were not, unto us for righteousness.
There is a book of which some of us are fond which describes the resolutionof
an old, old maid to adventure to Central Africa to preach to the heathen. Of
course, the thing was impossible; and, of course, at last, with many tears, she
discoveredthat she would never go. In human reckoning I suppose the will,
the faith, the consecrationofspirit, count for nothing. Certainly she did not
go. There was no actualachievementof the heroism proposed. But I believe,
with Browning, that this was her exaltation; and all she could never be she
was worth to God; and that the willed deed was reckonedin His sight as a
deed done. This is the point at which even the law of God is transcendedby
His free, matchless grace.
See the king—I would help him but cannot, the wishes fall through.
Could I wrestle to raise him from sorrow, grow poor to enrich,
To fill up his life, starve my own out, I would—knowing which,
I know that my service is perfect.2 [Note:Browning, Saul.]
4. Justificationis not simply pardon, and it is not sanctification.
(1) It is not Pardon. There is something more than forgiveness here. Your
little child who has done wrong pleads with you, “Am I goodnow?” “Yes,”
you say; but the shadow has not passedfrom your face. And the child knows
that all is not right. “Am I goodnow?” “Yes.” “Thenwhy don’t you smile?”
Exactly. You must get back to the old footing. Say what you like, even the

sweetesttones offorgiveness do not always remove the impression of a shadow
across the face of God. The old familiarity and confidence are gone. Whatever
be the precise theologicalcontentof justification we all know what we mean,
what we feelwe want—the cloud off the sun, the doubt off the heart, the
uneasy apprehensiondispelled. We want to be at home again, and walk once
more as children of the light. That is justification.1 [Note: C. S. Horne.]
It is unquestionably true that the realsalvation of a breakerof the Divine law
involves not merely an escapefrom the penalty of the law, but a title to its
reward. He needs something that will carry not only deliverance from danger,
but a security for happiness.2 [Note:C. R. Vaughan.]
(2) It is not Sanctification. The different relations to it on our part are (a) that
righteousness apprehendedand appropriated to ourselves by faith, in all its
completeness;upon which God accepts and treats us as actually possessing it;
this is what is meant by our justification, or our status of present peace and
fellowship with God; and (b) that righteousness,whichis Jesus Christ
Himself, through the constantassociationand participation of faith with Him,
gradually but actually imparting Himself to us so as to become to us not only a
righteousness in which we believe, but one which at leastwe begin to possess;
this is what in process orprogress we call our sanctification, and when it is
completed it will be our glory or glorification.
ii. Gratis and Gracious
“Being justified freely (as a gift, gratis)by his grace.” The sinner is justified as
an act of God’s free grace. The actitself is the act of God in His judicial
capacity, and includes in it the blotting out, the forgiving of all original and
actualtransgression. All is blotted out. There is not one sin left unremitted.

There is a complete obliterating of all evidence of guilt againstthe sinner. And
this actis done freely, graciously.
1. It is free on the part of God in the eternalpurpose of it. For He might justly
have left men to perish under the guilt of sin.
2. It is free in the means He used to effectit, in the sending of His Son. He was
the free gift of His eternally free love. Nothing could have induced Him to this
but His own free grace. “He so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoeverbelievethin him should not perish, but have everlasting
life.” “The gift of Godis eternallife through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
3. It is free in the laying of the punishment of our sins upon Him. It pleased
the Fatherto bruise Him, to put Him to grief. This could only be an act of
grace. Hence, “hereinis the love of Godmanifested, in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.” This was the greatest, the highest proof God
could give of His love and grace. Here He went to the utmost in loving—when
for our sakes He laid the punishment of sin upon His own dear Son.
4. It is free in the covenantengagementwith Christ for us. Christ stood for us,
in our place and room. That was arrangedin covenant. Nothing but free
electing grace couldaccountfor this. “According to his mercy he savedus by
the washing of regenerationand renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed
on us abundantly through Jesus Christour Saviour.” This is all of free grace,
and only of free grace. It was according to free grace that He “choseus in him
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame
before him in love, having predestinatedus unto the adoption of children by
Jesus Christ to himself, according to the goodpleasure of his will, to the praise
of the glory of his grace whereinhe hath made us acceptedin the beloved.”

5. It is free also in the offer of all this to us in the Gospel. It is offeredwithout
money and without price. “Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters,
come buy wine and milk without money and without price.” “Whosoeverwill,
let him take of the waterof life freely.” Nothing can be freer or more cordial
than this invitation. The poorestis welcome. All are such; the feastis prepared
for the poor. But the most bankrupt sinner finds himself within the folds of
this invitation.
6. It is free, finally, in the actual pardon of them that believe. They have
nothing, absolutelynothing, on the ground of which they can ask for this
pardon. They must come absolutely bankrupt, poor and needy, that they may
obtain this unspeakable privilege from God. They have made no satisfaction
for former transgression. Theyhave no penal or expiatory suffering to merit
it. They can have no expectationof future recompense. Whether, then, we
considerthe pardoner or the pardoned, justification is equally free—onthe
part of God who justifies, and on the part of the sinner who is justified. They
are justified freely by His grace.1[Note:M. Macaskill.]
Restover me in love, O piercèd One!
Smile on me sadly through my mist of sin,
Smile on me sweetlyfrom Thy crownof thorns.
As the dawn lookethon the greatdark hills,
As the hills dawn-touch’d on the greatdark sea,

Dawnon my heart’s greatdarkness, Prince of Peace!
III
The Means of our Justification
“Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
1. Redemption. The word redemption or ransom is easilyunderstood; it
means the buying back, the paying something for another. When a man had
incurred a debt, and, in accordance withancient law, had been imprisoned or
sold as a slave in consequence ofthat debt, the payment of the debt by another
constituted his redemption from slavery, his ransom from bondage. All
mankind was in that condition before God, and we are in that condition;
burdened with the ten thousand talents of debt which we cannotpay; in
bondage to sin and Satan;sold under sin, tied and bound with the chain of our
sins; our very lives justly forfeited to the majesty of violated law. And from
this condition Christ delivered us. As far as the effects to us are concerned, we
might say that He purchased us from this slavery, that He bought us by the
price of His life and death; redeemedus with His precious blood. And the
figure chiefly used is not that He pays the debt, but that He cancels it; forgives
it, freely and unpaid; blots it out, tears it up, nails its no longer valid
fragments to His cross.
The Authorized Version does not keepthe same English equivalent for the
same Greek word, and the words, “reconciliation,”“atonement,”
“propitiation,” and “redemption,” seemto be used almost indiscriminately in
it. But in the Greek they are always kept distinct. We have here the word
“redemption,” and the Greek wordis ἀπολυτρώσις. In chap. Romans 3:25 the

word we have is “propitiation,” and the Greek wordis ἱλαστήριον. And we
have in chap. Romans 5:11 the word καταλλαγή,translatedwrongly in the
text as “atonement,” but rightly in the margin as “reconciliation.”Now, it is
most important to keepthese three things separate, because theyare the work
of different offices of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Redemption” is the work of the
king. “Propitiation” is the work of the priest. And “reconciliation” describes
the work of the prophet. And if we want an all-round view of the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ, we must combine the three, and then we have Christ’s
work—the work of the Anointed Prophet, the work of the Anointed Priest,
and the work of the Anointed King.1 [Note:E. A. Stuart.]
It is simply impossible to getrid of the conceptionof a ransom from the New
Testament. Christian piety should surely be as willing to consider gratefully
“all our redemption cost” as to recognize confidently “all our redemption
won.” We need not press the metaphor of redemption to yield a theory of the
atonement; but the idea of Christ’s death as a ransom expressesthe necessity
of that death as the condition of man’s salvation, as required not only by the
moral order of the world, but also by the holy will of God, which that moral
order expresses.2[Note:A. E. Garvie.]
Alas! my Lord is going,
Oh my woe!
It will be mine undoing;
If He go,

I’ll run and overtake Him;
If He stay,
I’ll cry aloud and make Him
Look this way.
O stay, my Lord, my Love, ’tis I;
Comfort me quickly, or I die.
“Cheerup thy drooping spirits;
I am here.
Mine all-sufficient merits
Shall appear
Before the throne of glory
In thy stead:

I’ll put into thy story
What I did.
Lift up thine eyes, sad soul, and see
Thy Saviour here. Lo, I am He.”
Alas! shall I present
My sinfulness
To Thee? Thou wilt resent
The loathsomeness.
“Be not afraid, I’ll take
Thy sins on Me,
And all My favour make

To shine on thee.”
Lord, what Thou’lt have me, Thou must make me.
“As I have made thee now, I take thee.”1 [Note:Christopher Harvey.]
2. The Redemption is in Christ Jesus. How has He accomplishedit? Take the
steps in order.
(1) Man, having broken the Divine law, is under condemnation. The Most
High appears before us as the moral governorof men, presenting to them His
law, with the simple requirement, Obey. Obey and you shall live—“Moses
describeth the righteousness whichis of the law, That the man which doeth
these things shall live by them.” Disobey, and you shall die—“The soul that
sinneth, it shall die.” But man has transgressedthe law, and thus incurred the
penalty.
(2) The claims of the law have been fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ. He
assumedman’s nature, was made under the law, and fulfilled all
righteousness. “Ido always those things which please the Father” was the
utterance of His own consciousness;“I find no fault in Him” was the verdict
of His foe; “Who did no sin,” “JesusChrist the Righteous,” was the witness of
those who knew Him best; “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased” was the declarationof God. In the life of Jesus, the law found its
fulfilling and complete embodiment. But though our Lord thus fulfilled the
law’s claim, He suffered its penalty as though He were guilty. His death was
not the necessaryend of the human life which He assumed. He was wounded
for transgression, He was bruised for iniquity, chastisementwas upon Him,
He made Him to be sin who knew no sin. He was made a curse, “for it is

written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree,” He cried that He was
forsakenofGod. Christ fulfilled the law perfectly, and yet suffered as though
He had broken it wholly.
(3) Christ’s twofold nature made His fulfilment of the law imputable. He was
Man. The law imposed on man must be fulfilled by man; it is not angelic
holiness, nor heavenly holiness which is required, but human holiness. The
righteousness ofthe Man, Christ Jesus, was ofthis kind, wrought out under
the same limitations and conditions, and only with the same poweras those
under which the law was at first laid upon Adam, and by which Adam might
have stood. But the Word who was made flesh was God. Thus He was under
no obligation to the law, He owedit nothing on His own account. Had He been
simply man, all His righteousness wouldhave been necessaryfor His own
justification, but He was God, everlastingly and infinitely holy, in and of
Himself, and if as such He stoopedto obey the law, and work out a human
righteousness, He needednot that for Himself, He was righteous already, it
was a righteousness extra and to spare, and the very righteousness manneeds.
And so of the Penalty which He paid. Since He was man, that penalty was
inflicted on man’s nature, but since He kept the law, no penalty was due from
Him; like His righteousness, it was something extra and to spare. But He was
also God, which gives His sufferings an infinite value, and makes them
constitute a price paid, a curse endured for transgression, as greatas Godis
great. Here, then, we see in Christ a perfect obedience to the law, and the
law’s penalty completely endured, and both by human nature, and the point
is—Christ does not need them for Himself, He has them both to spare.
(4) God declares that He imputes the fulfilment of the law’s claims by Christ
to those who acceptHim as their representative. That is to say, these things
which Christ has to spare are handed over to such, and regardedby God as
on their behalf. That is the act of Justificationby faith, the acceptanceof
Christ as our representative, His righteousnessreckonedto us, our penalty
paid in Him, God declaring that He accepts this Substitution in the case ofall

those who thus trust His Son. “Christ Jesus, whomGod hath set forth to be a
propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness, thathe
might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”1[Note:C.
New]
Love bade me welcome;yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetlyquestioning,
If I lack’d anything.
“A guest,” I answer’d, “worthy to be here:”
Love said, “You shall be he.”
“I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,
I cannot look on Thee.”

Love took my hand, and smiling, did reply,
“Who made the eyes but I?”
“Truth, Lord, but I have marr’d them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.”
“And know you not,” says Love, “who bore the blame?”
“My dear, then I will serve.”
“You must sit down,” says Love, “and taste my meat.”
So I did sit and eat.2 [Note:Christopher Harvey.]
Justification
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES

Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
A Remedy For A Universal Need
Romans 3:23
S.R. Aldridge
To assertthat the righteousness ofGod manifested in Christ was "apart from
the Law" relegatedthe Law to its proper position, as the servant, not the
master, of religion. And the apostle's substantiationof his further assertion,
that this new method of righteousness was notso entirely unheard of as that
its novelty should be a strong prejudice againstits truth, but that, on the
contrary, the Law itself and the prophets contain intimations of such a Divine
manifestation, - this cut the ground entirely from under the feetof objectors
jealous of every innovation which could not be justified by an appeal to the
sacredwritings. And this righteousness throughfaith recognizedJew and
Gentile as alike in their need of a gospel, and their freedom of access thereto.
I. THERE IS NO DISTINCTIONAMONGSTMEN IN RESPECT OF
THEIR NEED OF THE GOSPEL. Menare declaredfaulty in two respects.
1. By positive transgression. They"sinned," they have done wrong, and they
wander continually from the right way. They are not adjudged criminal
merely on the ground of Adam's fall, but they themselves cross the line which
separates obediencefrom disobedience. Scripture, history, and conscience
testify to this fact.
2. By defect. They "fall short of the glory of God." Their past behaviour has
been blameworthy, and their present condition is far below what was intended
when man was formed in God's image, to attain to his likeness. Compare the
best of men with the example setby the Saviour of love to God and man, and
of conformity to the highest standard discernible. Now, unless perfect, man
cannot claim acquittal at the bar of judgment. Perfectionis marred if one
feature be distorted or one limb be missing or weak. This is not to be takento
signify that all men are equally sinful, that there are no degrees ofenormity,
and that all are equidistant from the kingdom of God. But it means that,
without exception, all fail in the examination which Divine righteousness

institutes, though some have more marks than others. Left to themselves, all
men would drown in the sea of their iniquity, though some are nearerthe
surface than their fellows. The misunderstanding of this truth has done
grievous harm to tender minds, fretting because they had not the same sense
of awful misdoing that has been felt by notorious malefactors. We neednot
gauge the amount of contrition requisite; it suffices if the heart turn humbly
to God for forgiveness. Thus the gospeldoes not flatter men. Soothing
messages maycomfort for a while till the awakening comes. Thenwe realize
that it is of no use to be in a richly decoratedcabin if the ship is sinking. To
revealthe true state is the necessarypreliminary to reformation. There is a
down-rightness about the gospelassertionswhich, like the deep probing of the
surgeon's lance, wounds in order to thorough healing. Alas! that the disease of
sin should so frequently produce lethargy in the sick!they feel no need of a
physician! Lax notions of sin lessenour sense ofthe necessityofan atonement.
We fail to discern a rebellion againstthe government of God, and an offence
againstthe moral universe. We treat it as if it only concernedourselves and
our neighbours. No sprinkling of rose-watercanpurge away the evil; it can be
cleansedonly by the blood of the Lamb.
II. THERE IS NO DISTINCTION IN RESPECT OF THE MEANS OF
SALVATION.
1. Justificationcomes in every case as a gift, not as a prize discoveredor
earned. "Being justified freely." Part of the beneficial influence of the gospel
is the blow it administers to human notions of desert, and pride is a chief
obstacle to enrichment by this gift of God.
2. To all men the kindness of God is the source of their salvation. God first
loved and sought the sinner, not contrariwise. His "grace" is the fountain of
redemption.
3. The same Divine method of deliverance is employed for all. "Through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus."There is but one way to the Father,
whether men walk thereon consciouslyorunconsciously, in heathen twilight
or gospelnoontide, in Jewishanticipation or Christian realization. The one
atonement cancover all transgression.

4. The same human mode of entrance into the kingdom is open to all, viz. by
faith. Weakness,ignorance,degradation, cannotbe pleaded as obstacles to
salvation. The study of the philosopher is no nearer heaven than the cottage of
the artisan. The capacityof trusting is possessedby every man; the remedy is
not remote, therefore, from the reachof any of the sin-sick race. - S.R.A.
Biblical Illustrator
Being Justified freely by His grace.
Romans 3:24
Justification
Prof. Godet.
I. Its MODE — "freely." It is not a matter of wages, it is a free gift.
II. Its ORIGIN — "His grace."God's free goodwill inclining Him to sinful
man to bestow on him a favour. There is no blind necessityhere. We are face
to face with a generous inspiration of Divine love.

III. The MEANS. The deliverance wrought in Jesus Christ.
(Prof. Godet.)
Justification
J. Guyse, D. D.
I. THE BENEFIT SPOKENOF — Justification. In this there is —
1. The forgiveness of sins. "The remission of sins."
2. A restorationto God's favour.
3. A treatment of the pardoned and acceptedpersonas righteous.
II. Its ORIGINAL SPRING, or first moving cause, and the free grace of God
(Romans 11:6).
1. By God's grace, whichexcludes all merit.
2. Freely, which excludes all conceit.
III. Its MERITORIOUS OR PROCURINGCAUSE. "The redemption that is
in Jesus Christ."
IV. THE ORDINATION OF GOD ABOUT IT. He hath "setChrist forth to
be a propitiation." The word "set forth" signifies that —
1. God hath purposed in Himself that Christ should be a propitiation for sin
(Ephesians 1:9; 1 Peter1:18-20).
2. God has exhibited and proposed Christ to us to be a propitiation.(1) He set
Him forth beforehand, in the promises, types, and prophecies (ver. 21; John
5:46; Acts 10:43).(2)And when the fulness of time was come, God actually
exhibited Him in the flesh (Galatians 4:4, 5).(3) Then the great decree broke
forth, and the promised Saviourcame to take awaysin by the sacrifice of
Himself.(4) He is now setforth as a propitiation in the cleardiscoveries which
are made of Him in the gospel(1 Peter1:20; Romans 3:21; Galatians 3:1).(5)

And this is proposedto our faith for the remission of our sins and acceptance
with God (Romans 1:17).
3. God has preferred Christ as a propitiation to all things else. The sacrifices
under the law could not possibly take awaysin. God did not take any pleasure
in them for that purpose; but in Christ His soul is well pleased, and His
offering is of a sweet-smelling savourto God (Ephesians 5:2).
V. THE WAY IN WHICH WE ARE MADE PARTAKERS OF THIS
BENEFIT — "through faith in His blood." Conclusion:
1. This gives us a lively view of the greatevil of sin and the exceeding riches of
God's grace.
2. Here is no room for any to encourage themselves withhopes of pardon and
acceptancewith God while they go on in sin.
3. Here is a blessedground of relief for poor convinced sinners who are
discouragedwith fears, as if there could be no pardon for their sins.
4. Here are the richestconsolations andthe highest obligations to those who
have obtained this blessing.
(J. Guyse, D. D.)
Of justification
I. WHAT IT IS TO JUSTIFYA SINNER. Justificationis a law term taken
from courts of judicature, wherein a person is accused, tried, and, after trial,
absolved. Thus it is opposedto accusationand condemnation (chap. Romans
8:33, 34;Deuteronomy 25:1). And so it is declaredto be a sin to justify the
wicked(Proverbs 17:15), not to make them righteous but to pronounce them
righteous. Hence it follows that justification —
1. Is not a real but a relative change of the sinner's state.
2. Is an act done and passedin an instant in the court of heaven, as soonas the
sinner believes in Christ, and not a work carried on by degrees.

II. THE PARTS OF JUSTIFICATION.
1. That we may the more clearlytake up this matter, we must view the process
of a sinner's justification.(1) God Himself sits Judge in this process.He gave
the law;and as He is the Lawgiverso He is the Judge. And He only can justify
authoritatively and irreversibly. For —
(a)He only is the Lawgiver, and He only has powerto save or to destroy, and
therefore the judgment must be left to Him (James 4:12).
(b)Against Him the crime is committed, and He only can pardon it.(2) The
sinner is cited to answerbefore God's judgment seatby the messengers of
God, the ministers of the gospel(Malachi3:1). Every sermon is a summons
put into the sinner's hand to answerfor his sin. But, alas!sinners are so secure
that they slight the summons and will not appear. Some keepthemselves out
of the messenger's way;some never read the summons; others tear it in
pieces, oraffront the messengers (Matthew 22:6). And so they acttill Death
bring them under his black rod before the tribunal in anotherworld, where
there is no accessto justification.(3) The Judge sends out other messengers
who apprehend the sinner to carry him before the judgment seat. And these
are, the spirit of bondage and an awakenedconscience(John16:8, 9; Proverbs
20:27;Jeremiah 2:27). They apprehended Paul, and left him not till he
appearedand submitted himself. But some when caught are unruly prisoners,
and strive againstthe Spirit and their own consciences (Acts 7:51); they go no
farther with them than they are dragged. They get the mastery at length, and
get awayto their own ruin; like Cain, Saul, Felix, etc.(4)When at length the
prisoner, in chains of guilt, is brought to the bar (Acts 16:29, 30), what fear
and sorrow seize him while he sees a just Judge on the throne, a strict law laid
before him, and a guilty consciencewithin!(5) Then the indictment is read,
and the sinner is speechless(Romans 3:10-19). And sentence is demanded
agreeable to the law (Galatians 3:10).(6)Then the sinner must plead guilty or
not. If he were innocent he might plead not guilty, and thereupon he would be
justified. But this plea is not for us. For —
(a)It is utterly false (Romans 3:10; Ecclesiastes7:20;James 3:2).

(b)Falsehoodcannever bear out before God's judgment seat. There is no want
of evidence. Conscienceis as a thousand witnesses, andthe Judge is
omniscient. The sinner then must needs plead guilty.(7) The sinner being
convictedis put to it to plead, why the sentence should not pass againsthim.
Shall he plead mercy for mere mercy's sake?Justice interposes thatthe Judge
of all the earth must do right. The truth of God interposes that the word
already gone out must be accomplished — That without shedding of blood
there is no remission. Whither shall the sinner turn now? Both saints and
angels are helpless. So —(8) The despisedMediator, the Advocate at this
court, who takes the desperate causes ofsinners in hand, offers Himself now,
with His perfectrighteousness, andall His salvation. The sinner by faith lays
hold on Him, renounces all other claims, and betakes himself to His alone
merits and suretyship. Now has the sinner a plea that will infallibly bring him
off. He pleads, he is guilty indeed; yet he must not die, for Christ has died for
him. The law's demands were just, but they are all answeredalready.(9)
Hereupon the judge sustaining the plea passes the sentence of justification on
the sinner, according to the everlasting agreement(Isaiah53:11), who is now
setbeyond the reachof condemnation (chap. Romans 8:1).
2. This greatbenefit consists of —(1) The pardon of sin (Acts 13:38, 39). Here
I shall show —(a) What pardon is. It is not the taking awaythe nature of sin;
God justifies the stoner, but will never justify his sin. Nor is it the removing of
the intrinsic demerit of sin; it still deserves condemnation. Nor is it a simple
delay of the punishment; a reprieve is no pardon. There are four things in sin:
— Its power, which is broken in regeneration(Romans 6:14); its blot and
stain, which is taken awayin sanctification(1 Corinthians 6:11); its
indwelling, which is removed in glorification(Hebrews 12:23); its guilt. Now
pardon is the taking awayof guilt, the dreadful obligationto punishment.
Pardon cuts the knot whereby guilt ties sin and wrath together, cancelsthe
bond obliging the sinner to pay his debt, and puts him out of the law's
reach.(b) Its properties — full (Micah 7:19; Colossians 2:13);free; irrevocable
(Romans 11:29).(c)Its names discovering its nature. It is a blotting out of sin
(Isaiah 43:25), an allusion to a creditor who, when he discharges a debt, scores
it out of his count book;a not imputing of sin (Psalm32:2), a metaphor from
merchants, who, when a rich friend undertakes for one of their poor debtors,

charge their accounts no more upon him; a taking of the burden of sin from
off the sinner (Psalm 32:1; Hosea 14:2); a washing of him (1 Corinthians 6:11;
Psalm51:2; Isaiah1:18; 1 John 1:7); a dismissing or remission of sin
(Matthew 6:12; Romans 3:25), as the scapegoatbore awaythe iniquities of the
people; the dispelling of a thick cloud (Isaiah 44:22), which pardon, like the
shining sun, breaks through and dissolves, or, like a mighty wind, scatters;a
casting of sin behind the Lord's back.(Isaiah38:17);a casting it into the depth
of the sea (Micah7:19); a covering of sin (Psalm 32:1); a not remembering of
sin (Jeremiah31:34).(2)The acceptationofthe personas righteous in the sight
of God (2 Corinthians 5:2l; Romans 4:6; Romans 5:19). There is a two-fold
acceptationwhichmust be carefully distinguished. First, of a man's works as
righteous (Galatians 3:12). Works in a full conformity to the law are thus
accepted. But since God's judgment is according to truth, He cannotaccount
things to be what really they are not; it is evident that even a believer's works
are not righteous in the eye of the law. So that this acceptationhas no place in
our justification. Secondly, of a man's person as righteous (Ephesians 1:6).
This may be done, and is done, to the believer. This is an unspeakable benefit;
for thereby —(a) The bar in the way of abounding mercy is taken away, so
that the rivers of compassionmay flow towards him (Romans 5:1, etc.;Job
33:24, etc.)(b) He is adjudged to eternal life (2 Thessalonians 1:6, 7; Acts
26:18).(c)The accusations ofSatanand the clamours of evil conscience are
hereby to be stilled (Romans 8:33, 34).
(T. Boston, D. D.)
Justification
R. Wardlaw, D. D.
There may amongstmen be a change of state without any change of
character. A prisoner may be dismissedfrom the bar, acquitted of the charge;
or he may be convicted, but pardoned; but he may go with all the principles of
wickednessas strong as ever within him. His condition is changed, but not his
character. But it is never so in God's dealings with men. In every case in

which there is justification, sanctificationaccompanies it. Wherever there is
the change ofstate there is the change of character.
(R. Wardlaw, D. D.)
Justificationby grace
C. H. Spurgeon.
I. THE REDEMPTIONTHAT IS IN OR BY CHRIST JESUS. When a
prisoner has been made a slave by some barbarous power, a ransom price
must be paid. Now, we being, by the fall of Adam, virtually guilty, Justice
claimed us as his bond slaves foreverunless we could pay a ransom. But we
were "bankrupt debtors";an executionwas put into our house; all we had
was sold, and we could by no means find a ransom; it was just then that
Christ paid the ransom price that we might be delivered from the curse of the
law and go free. Note —
1. The multitude He has redeemed, "a multitude that no man can number."
2. This ransomwas all paid, and all paid at once. The sacrifice ofCalvary was
not a part payment. The whole of the demands of the law were paid down
there and then. So priceless was the ransom one might have thought that
Christ should pay it by installments. Kings' ransoms have sometimes run
through years. But our Saviour once for all gave Himself a sacrifice, leaving
nothing for Him or us to do.
3. When Christ paid all this ransom He did it all Himself! Simon, the
Cyrenian, might bear the cross, but not be nailed to it. Two thieves were with
Him there; not righteous men, lestany should have said that their death
helped the Saviour. He trod the wine press alone.
4. It was accepted. There have been prices offered which never were accepted,
and therefore the slave did not go free. But this was accepted, and the proof of
that is —
(1)His resurrection.

(2)His ascensioninto heaven.
II. THE EFFECT OF THE RANSOM "being justified freely by His grace."
1. What is the meaning of justification? There is no such thing on earth for
mortal man, except in one way — i.e., he must be found not guilty. If you find
him guilty, you cannotjustify him. The Queenmay pardon him, but she
cannot justify him. It remained for the ransom of Christ to effectthat which is
an impossibility to earthly tribunals. Now see the way whereby God justifies a
sinner. A prisoner has been tried and condemned to death. But suppose that
some secondparty could be introduced who could become that man, he, the
righteous man, putting the rebel in his place, and making the rebel a righteous
man. We cannot do that in our courts. If I should be committed for a year's
imprisonment insteadof some wretchwho was condemned yesterday, I might
take his punishment, but not his guilt. Now, whatflesh and blood cannotdo,
that Jesus by His redemption did. The way whereby God saves a sinner is not
by passing over the penalty, but the putting of another person in the rebel's
place. The rebel must die. Christ says, "Iwill be his substitute." Godconsents
to it. No earthly monarch could have powerto consentto such a change. But
the Godof heavenhad a right to do as He pleased.
2. Some of the characteristicsofthis justification.(1) As soonas a repenting
sinner is justified, remember, he is justified for all his sins. The moment he
believes in Christ, his pardon at once he receives, and his sins are no longer
his; they are laid upon the shoulders of Christ, and they are gone.(2)But what
is more, he becomes righteous;for in the moment when Christ takes his sins
he takes Christ's righteousness.(3)This is irreversible. If Christ has once paid
the debt, the debt is paid, and it will never be askedforagain; if you are
pardoned, you are pardoned once forever.
III. THE MANNER OF GIVING THIS JUSTIFICATION.
1. "Freely," becausethere is no price to be paid for it; "ByHis grace,"
because it is not of our deservings. If you bring in any of your deservings, or
anything to pay for it, He will not give it. RowlandHill at a fair noticed the
chapmen selling their wares by auction; so he said, "I am going to hold an
auction too, to sell wine and milk, without money and without price. My

friends over there find a greatdifficulty to get you up to their price; my
difficulty is to bring you down to mine." So it is with men. If I could preach
justification to be bought, or to be had by walking a hundred miles, or by
some torture, who would not seek it? But when it is offered freely men turn
away. But may I not say, "Lord, justify me because Iam not so bad as
others";or "because I go to church twice a day"; or "becauseI mean to be
better"? No; it is "by His grace." You insult God by bringing your counterfeit
coin to pay for His treasures. Whatpoor ideas men have of the value of
Christ's gospelif they think they canbuy it! A rich man, when he was dying,
thought he could buy a place in heavenby building a row of almshouses. A
goodman said, "How much are you going to leave?" "Twentythousand
pounds." Said he, "Thatwould not buy enough for your foot to stand on in
heaven; for the streets are made of goldthere, and therefore of what value can
your gold be, it would be accountednothing of, when the very streets are
paved with it?"
2. But how is it to be got? By faith. There is a story told of a captain of a man-
of-war whose little boy ran up the mast till at last he got on to the main truck.
Then the difficulty was that he was not tall enough to getdown from this main
truck, reachthe mast, and so descend. He was clinging to the main truck with
all his might, but in a little time he would fall down on the deck a mangled
corpse. The captain shouted, "Boy, the next time the ship lurches, throw
yourself into the sea." The poor boy lookeddownon the sea;it was a long
way; he could not bear the idea of throwing himself in. So he clung to the
main truck, though there was no doubt that he must soonlet go and perish.
The father, pointing a gun at him, said, "If you don't throw yourself into the
sea, I'll shootyou!" Over went the boy splashinto the sea, and out went
brawny arms after him, and brought him on deck. Now we, like the boy, are
in a position of extraordinary danger. Unfortunately, we have some good
works like that main truck, and we cling to them. Christ knows that unless we
give them up, we shall be dashed to pieces. He therefore says, "Sinner, let go
thine own trust, and drop into the sea of My love." We look down, and say,
"CanI be savedby trusting in God? He looks as if He were angry with me,
and I could not trust Him." Ah, will not mercy's tender cry persuade you? —
"He that believeth shall be saved." Must the weaponof destruction be pointed

directly at you? Must you hear the dreadful threat — "He that believeth not
shall be damned"? You must let go or perish! That is faith when the sinner
lets go his hold, drops down, and so is saved;and the very thing which looks
as if it would destroy him is the means of his being saved.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The mode and means of pardon
W. Griffiths.
I. JUSTIFICATION.
1. Negativelyis not declaring just —(1) By proof that sins so calledwere no
sins; they are as abominable as ever.(2)By proof that sins in the accusation
were never committed; all are proved and confirmed.(3) By proof that such
sins do not involve the sinner in guilt and condemnation; wrath is revealed
againstthem to the uttermost.
2. Positively. It is a declaring just, while pardoning, by proof that the
necessitiesarising in the case, forthe maintenance of law and exhibition of
justice, are satisfactorilymet by other means than the culprit's punishment.
Pardon is not slovenly and careless mercy, and it does not come through the
hushing up or cloaking under of the sinner's sin.
II. IS A FREELY GRACIOUS ACT AND GIFT.
1. It is not purchasedby the offender.
2. It is not procured by any means that recompense the Pardoner.
3. It is not constrainedin Him by any interestedmotive; He has no peril from
the guilty or gain from the pardoned.
4. It is not begrudged, delayed, sold, or bartered.
III. COMES THROUGH CHRIST'S REDEMPTION, orpaying of a price.
1. Notto conciliate Satanor sin.

2. Notto conciliate Godin His manner of feeling towards us.
3. Notto give to the Pardoner an equivalent in value for the pardon.
4. But paying down His own life, as that which the Kingly Judge required, ere
as a Kingly Father He could permit His willing mercy to flow — a payment
which has all the effect, and something of the nature, of a ransomprice paid
for a lawful captive.
IV. THE REDEMPTION IS EFFECTEDBY THE SETTING FORTHOF
CHRIST A PROPITIATION (ver. 25). Christ is set forth —
1. In His Divinity, as all in all, and all-sufficient.
2. In His humanity, as one with us in nature, sympathy, and devotion to us.
3. In His spotless purity and innocence, as owing nothing to justice, and
having a precious life to give.
4. In His propitiatory work, as being sacrificed, as acceptedofGod, as exalted
where the redemption in Him affects all the Divine counsels and
administrations. His propitiation does not appease any ill-will or thirst for
vengeance in God, for none existed; it meets those requirements that justice
dictated. Thus God is not made propitious in His feelings;but being already
propitious in Himself, He can now be propitious in His Kingly actions.
V. THIS PROPITIATION IS EFFECTUALTOWARDS AND UPON US,
THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST'S BLOOD.
1. That blood is the centralthing in the propitiatory work;for the blood is the
life, and in it that life was poured forth which was acceptedin the place of our
forfeited life.
2. That shed blood is the basis of the promise of pardon.
3. Faith that it has been shed, shed for me, and that it does acceptably
propitiate, brings to me the pardon for which it provides.
VI. THE EXPRESS PURPOSEOF THE PROPITIATION IS THE
DECLARATION OF GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS.

1. To show while He pardons that He was in earnestin His condemnation of
sin and sentence of death, and that He has unexceptionable grounds for
pardoning sin.
2. To make such exhibition of His justice that sin may not seemto be
encouragedorwinked at.
3. To justify His seeming leniency in the long suffering and pardon shown
towards sinners in the past, before Christ. To declare in all time presentand
to come, that while He justifies He is just.
(W. Griffiths.)
Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Redemption
E. B. Pusey, D. D.
By an image, forceful, because true, Holy Scripture speaks ofus "as slaves of
sin," "soldunder it," "slaves ofcorruption." We were not under its power
only, but under its curse. From that guilt and powerof sin we were redeemed,
ransomed, purchased; and the ransom which was paid was "the Precious
Bloodof Christ." It has been said, "Scripture is silent, to whom the ransom
was paid, and for what." Scripture says "for what," the forgiveness ofsins.
"In whom," i.e., in Jesus, "we have redemption through His Blood, the
remissionof our sins, according to the riches of His grace." It says, "from
what." For it says, "Christpurchased us out of the curse of the law." It says to
whom when it says, "ye were redeemedby the precious blood of Christ as of a
Lamb without blemish and without spot." For sacrifice was offeredto God
alone.
(E. B. Pusey, D. D.)
Redemption

Prof. J. A. Beet.
setting free, on payment, or by payment of a price. It combines the ideas of
liberation and price.
1. In some cases the context suggests the liberation of captives on payment of a
ransom. But hero the next verse reminds us that the word was frequently used
for those on whom the Mosaic law had a claim, but whom it releasedfor a
price or a substitute. E.g., Godclaimed the firstborn, but waved His claim on
payment of five shekels apiece (Exodus 13:13;Numbers 18:15). The word may
also be studied in Leviticus 27:27-33;Numbers 3:46-51. Like most words
which denote a combination of ideas, it is sometimes usedwhere only one of
the ideas is present, viz., liberation (Exodus 6:6; Exodus 15:13, etc.) But in the
case ofthose whom the Mosaic law claimed, liberation was effectedonly by
payment of a price. We therefore inquire whether it is so in this case. The
words which follow, and the teaching of Paul and of the entire New
Testament, give a decisive answer. We are constantlytaught that salvationis
by purchase; and that the blood and life of Christ are our ransom (1
Corinthians 6:20; Galatians 3:13; 1 Timothy 2:6; Matthew 20:28;Revelation
5:9).
2. Again, the idea of a price is that of exchange. The price takes the place of
what is bought. Therefore, that Christ's life is our ransom is explained and
confirmed by the passageswhichteachthat He died in our stead (2
Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13). Paul's words therefore imply that in Christ
there is a setting free brought about by someone or something taking our
place. By this means believers are justified.
(Prof. J. A. Beet.)
The costof redemption
T. L. Cuyler.
Yonder ermine, hung so carelesslyoverthe proud beauty's shoulder, cost
terrible battles with polar ice and hurricane. All choicestthings are reckoned

the dearest. So is it, too, in heaven's inventories. The universe of Godhas
never witnessedaught to be reckonedin comparisonwith the redemption of a
guilty world. That mighty ransom no such contemptible things as silver and
gold could procure. Only by one price could the Church of God be redeemed
from hell, and that the precious blood of the Lamb — the Lamb without
blemish or spot — the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
(T. L. Cuyler.)
Redemption: glory of
H. W. Beecher.
I can conceive that to the mind of God, looking upon a single soul, and
unrolling it as it shall be disclosedthrough the cycles of eternity, there may
come, in the far perspective, such a thought of the magnitude of a single soul,
as that in the view of God that soul shall outweighin importance the sum total
of the governments and populations of the globe at any particular period of
time. I canunderstand that God may sound a soul to a depth greaterthan
earth ever had a measure to penetrate, and find reasons enoughof sympathy
to over-measure all the temporal and earthly interests of mankind. And I can
conceive that God should assume to Himself the right to execute His
government of love by suffering for a single soulin such a way as quite to set
aside the ordinary courses ofthe secularand human idea of justice. This is to
my mind the redemptive idea. I do not believe it is a play betweenan abstract
system of law and a right of mercy. I think that nowhere in the world is there
so much law as in redemption, or so much justice as in love.
(H. W. Beecher.)
Redemption: gratitude for
H. W. Beecher.

Is there anything that is comparable with the love and gratitude of the soul
that feels himself redeemedfrom death and destruction? With almostan
agonyof love, such an one clings to his deliverer. There be those that cling to
the minister of Christ who, as an instrument and representative of the Master,
has been the means of opening their eyes, and bringing them out of darkness
into light. And there is nothing more natural or more noble than this
instinctive desire of one that has been saved from ruin to be ever present with
his benefactor. And when a soul is brought back from destruction, how
natural it is that it should wish, and that it should pray, that it might be with
Him by whom it has been rescued!
(H. W. Beecher.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(24) Being justified.—We should more naturally say, “but now are justified.”
The constructionin the Greek is peculiar, and may be accountedfor in one of
two ways. Either the phrase “being justified” may be taken as corresponding
to “all them that believe” in Romans 3:22, the change of case being an
irregularity suggestedby the form of the sentence immediately preceding;or
the constructionmay be consideredto be regular, and the participle “being
justified” would then be dependent upon the lastfinite verb: “they come short
of the glory of God, and in that very state of destitution are justified.”
Freely.—Gratuitously, without exertion or merit on their part. (Comp.
Matthew 10:8; Revelation21:6; Revelation22:17.)
By his grace.—ByHis own grace. The means by which justification is wrought
out is the death and atonement of Christ; its ulterior cause is the grace of God,
or free readmissioninto His favour, which He accords to man.

Redemption.—Literally, ransoming. The notion of ransom contains in itself
the triple idea of a bondage, a deliverance, and the payment of an equivalent
as the means of that deliverance. The bondage is the state of sin and of guilt,
with the expectationof punishment; the deliverance is the removal of this
state, and the opening out, in its stead, of a prospectof eternal happiness and
glory; the equivalent paid by Christ is the shedding of His own blood. This last
is the pivot upon which the whole idea of redemption turned. It is therefore
clearthat the redemption of the sinner is an act wrought objectively, and, in
the first instance, independently of any change of condition in him, though
such a change is involved in the appropriation of the efficacyof that act to
himself. It cannotbe explained as a purely subjective process wroughtin the
sinner through the influence of Christ’s death. The idea of dying and reviving
with Christ, though a distinct aspectofthe atonement, cannot be made to
coverthe whole of it. There is implied, not only a change in the recipient of the
atonement, but also a change wrought without his co-operationin the
relations betweenGod and man. There is, if it may be so said, in the death of
Christ something which determines the will of God, as well as something
which acts upon the will of man. And the particular influence which is
brought to bear upon the counsels ofGod is representedunder the figure of a
ransom or payment of an equivalent. This element is too essentiallya part of
the metaphor, and is too clearly establishedby other parallel metaphors, to be
explained away; though what the terms “propitiation” and “equivalent” can
mean, as applied to God, we do not know, and it perhaps does not become us
too curiously to inquire.
The doctrine of the atonementthus stated is not peculiar to St. Paul, and did
not originate with him. It is found also in the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew
20:28 ( = Mark 10:45), “The Son of Man came to give His life a ransom for
many,” and in Hebrews 9:15, “And for this cause He is the Mediatorof the
New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption (ransoming) of
the transgressions thatwere under the first testament, they which are called
might receive the promise of eternalinheritance.” (Comp. 1John2:2; 1Peter
1:18-19;1Peter2:24, et al.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
3:21-26 Must guilty man remain under wrath? Is the wound for ever
incurable? No;blessedbe God, there is another way laid open for us. This is
the righteousnessofGod; righteousnessofhis ordaining, and providing, and
accepting. It is by that faith which has Jesus Christfor its object; an anointed
Saviour, so Jesus Christ signifies. Justifying faith respects Christas a Saviour,
in all his three anointed offices, as Prophet, Priest, and King; trusting in him,
accepting him, and cleaving to him: in all these, Jews andGentiles are alike
welcome to God through Christ. There is no difference, his righteousness is
upon all that believe; not only offeredto them, but put upon them as a crown,
as a robe. It is free grace, mere mercy; there is nothing in us to deserve such
favours. It comes freelyunto us, but Christ bought it, and paid the price. And
faith has specialregardto the blood of Christ, as that which made the
atonement. God, in all this, declares his righteousness. It is plain that he hates
sin, when nothing less than the blood of Christ would satisfy for it. And it
would not agree with his justice to demand the debt, when the Surety has paid
it, and he has acceptedthat payment in full satisfaction.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
Being justified - Being treatedas if righteous;that is, being regardedand
treated as if they had kept the Law. The apostle has shown that they could not
be so regardedand treatedby any merit of their own, or by personal
obedience to the Law. He now affirms that if they were so treated, it must be
by mere favor, and as a matter not of right, but of gift. This is the essence of
the gospel. And to show this, and the way in which it is done, is the main
design of this Epistle. The expressionhere is to be understood as referring to
all who are justified; Romans 3:22. The righteousnessofGod by faith in Jesus
Christ, is "upon all who believe," who are all "justified freely by his grace."
Freely- δωρεὰν dōrean. This word stands opposedto what is purchased, or
which is obtained by labor, or which is a matter of claim. It is a free,
undeserved gift, not merited by our obedience to the Law, and not that to
which we have any claim. The apostle uses the word here in reference to those
who are justified. To them it is a mere undeserved gift, It does not mean that

it has been obtained, however, without any price or merit from anyone, for
the Lord Jesus has purchasedit with his own blood, and to him it becomes a
matter of justice that those who were given to him should be justified, 1
Corinthians 6:20; 1 Corinthians 7:23; 2 Peter2:1; 1 Peter 2:9. (Greek). Acts
20:28;Isaiah 53:11. We have no offering to bring, and no claim. To us,
therefore, it is entirely a matter of gift.
By his grace - By his favor; by his mere undeserved mercy; see the note at
Romans 1:7.
Through the redemption - διὰ τῆς ἀπολυτρώσεως dia tēs apolutrōseōs. The
word used here occurs only 10 times in the New Testament, Luke 21:28;
Romans 3:24; Romans 8:23; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:7, Ephesians
1:14; Ephesians 4:30; Colossians 1:14;Hebrews 9:15; Hebrews 11:35. Its root
(λύτρον lutron) properly denotes the price which is paid for a prisoner of war;
the ransom, or stipulated purchase-money, which being paid, the captive is set
free. The word used here is then employed to denote liberation from bondage,
captivity, or evil of any kind, usually keeping up the idea of a price, or a
ransom paid, in consequenceofwhich the delivery is effected. It is sometimes
used in a large sense, to denote simple deliverance by any means, without
reference to a price paid, as in Luke 21:28;Romans 8:23; Ephesians 1:14.
That this is not the sense here, however, is apparent. Forthe apostle in the
next verse proceeds to specify the price which has been paid, or the means by
which this redemption has been effected. The word here denotes that
deliverance from sin, and from the evil consequencesofsin, which has been
effectedby the offering of Jesus Christ as a propitiation; Romans 3:25.
That is in Christ Jesus - Or, that has been effectedby Christ Jesus;that of
which he is the author and procurer; compare John 3:16.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
24. justified freely—without anything done on our part to deserve.
by his grace—His free love.
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus—a mostimportant clause;
teaching us that though justification is quite gratuitous, it is not a mere fiat of

the divine will, but basedon a "Redemption," that is, "the payment of a
Ransom," in Christ's death. That this is the sense ofthe word "redemption,"
when applied to Christ's death, will appear clearto any impartial student of
the passageswhere it occurs.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
Being justified freely by his grace;i.e. Being in this case, theycan by no means
be acquitted and freed from the accusationand condemnation of the law, but
in the way and manner that follows. He mentions the greatmoving cause of
justification first, (which doth comprehend also the principal efficient), that it
is without any cause ormerit in us; and by the free favour of God to
undeserving, ill-deserving creatures, Ephesians 1:6,7 2:8 Titus 3:7.
Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:the meritorious cause is
expressedby a metaphor taken from military proceedings, where captives
takenin war, and under the powerof another, are redeemedupon a valuable
price laid down: see Matthew 20:28 Mark 10:45 1 Timothy 2:6 Hebrews 9:12.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Being justified freely by his grace,....The matter of justification is before
expressed, and the persons that share in this blessing are described; here the
severalcauses of it are mentioned. The moving cause of it is the free grace of
God; for by "the grace ofGod" here, is not meant the Gospel, or what some
men call the terms of the Gospel, and the constitution of it; nor the grace of
God infused into the heart; but the free love and favour of God, as it is in his
heart; which is wonderfully displayed in the business of a sinner's justification
before him: it appears in his resolving upon the justification of his chosenones
in Christ; in fixing on the method of doing it; in setting forth and pre-
ordaining Christ to be the ransom; in calling Christ to engage herein;in
Christ's engaging as a surety for his people, and in the Father's sending him to
bring in everlasting righteousness;in Christ's coming to do it, and in the
gracious manner in which he wrought it out; in the Father's gracious
acceptation, imputation, and donation of it; in the free gift of the grace of

faith, to apprehend and receive it; and in the persons that partake of it, who
are of themselves sinners and ungodly. The meritorious cause ofjustification
is,
the redemption that is in Jesus Christ: redemption supposes a former state of
captivity to sin, Satan, and the law, in which God's electwere by nature, and
is a deliverance from it; it is of a spiritual nature, chiefly respects the soul, and
is plenteous, complete, and eternal: this is in and by Christ; he was calledunto
it, was sentto effectit, had a right unto it, as being the near kinsman; and was
every way fit for it, being both God and man; and has by his sufferings and
death obtained it: now, as all the blessings ofgrace come through redemption
by Christ, so does this of justification, and after this manner; Christ, as a
Redeemer, had the sins of his people laid on him, and they were bore by him,
and took away;the sentence ofthe law's condemnationwas executedon him,
as standing in their legalplace and stead;and satisfactionwas made by him
for all offences committed by them, which was necessary, that God might
appear to be just, in justifying all them that believe: nor is this any objection
or contradiction to the free grace of God, in a sinner's justification; since it
was grace in God to provide, send, and part with his Son as a Redeemer, and
to work out righteousness;it was grace in Christ, to come and give himself a
sacrifice, andobtain salvationand righteousness, notfor angels, but for men,
and for some of them, and not all; and whatever this righteousness, salvation,
and redemption costChrist, they are all free to men.
Geneva Study Bible
{9} Being justified {u} freely by his grace through the redemption that is in
Jesus Christ:
(9) Therefore this righteousness whichwe gain is altogetherfreely given, for
its foundation is upon those things which we have not done ourselves, but
rather those things which Christ has suffered for our sakes, to deliver us from
sin.
(u) By his free gift, and liberality.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary
Romans 3:24. Δικαιούμενοι]does notstand for the finite tense (as even
Rückertand Reiche, following Erasmus, Calvin and Melancthon, think); nor
is, with Ewald, Romans 3:23 to be treated as a parenthesis, so that the
discourse from the accusative in Romans 3:22 should now resolve itself more
freely into the nominative, which would be unnecessarilyharsh. But the
participle introduces the accompanying relation, which here comes into view
with the ὑστεροῦνται τῆς δόξης τ. θεοῦ, namely, that of the mode of their
δικαίωσις:so that, in that state of destitution, they receive justification in the
way of gift. Bengelaptly remarks:“repente sic panditur scena amoenior.” The
participle is not even to be resolvedinto καὶ δικαιοῦνται (Peschito, Luther,
Fritzsche), but the relation of becoming justified is to be left in the dependence
on the want of the δόξα Θεοῦ, in which it is conceivedand expressed. Against
the Osiandrian misinterpretations in their old and new forms see Melancthon,
Enarr. on Romans 3:21; Kahnis, Dogm. I. p. 599 ff.; and also Philippi,
Glaubenslehre, IV. 2, p. 247 ff.
δωρεάν] gratuitously (comp v. 17, and on the adverb in this sense Polyb. xviii.
17, 7; 1Ma 10:33; Matthew 10:8; 2 Thessalonians 3:8; 2 Corinthians 11:7)
they are placed in the relation of righteousness, so thatthis is not anyhow the
result of their ownperformance; comp Ephesians 2:8; Titus 3:5.
Τῇ ΑὐΤΟῦ ΧΆΡ. ΔΙᾺ Τῆς ἈΠΟΛ. Τῆς ἘΝ Χ. Ἰ.] in virtue of His grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. This redemption is that which
forms the medium of the justification of man taking place gratuitously
through the grace ofGod. By the position of the words τῇ αὐτοῦ χάριτι, the
divine grace, is, in harmony with the notion of ΔΏΡΕΑΝ, emphasised
preciselyas the divine, opposedto all human co-operation;comp Ephesians
2:8. In ἈΠΟΛΎΤΡΩΣΙς (comp Plut. Pomp. 24, Dem. 159, 15)the specialidea
of ransoming (comp on Ephesians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 6:20; Galatians 3:13)is
not to be changedinto the generalone of the Messianic liberation(Romans
8:23; Luke 21:28; Ephesians 1:14; Ephesians 4:30;and see Ritschlin the

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